Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

EVANSVILLE - The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. has been a leader in Indiana in recognizing the importance of high, quality early childhood education, Cathlin Gray, EVSC associate superintendent of family, school and community partnerships, told School Board members Monday evening.

Over the past five years, Gray said the EVSC has allocated $1 million annually of the district’s Title 1 funding to support early childhood education.

Gray, along with EVSC’s Director of Early Childhood Education Terry Green, updated board members Monday night on the district’s being one of five selected to participate in the state’s pre-K pilot program for 4-year-olds from low-income families.

Starting in January, the EVSC will be eligible to serve an additional 200 at-risk 4-year-olds, Gray said. And in 2015, the district will have capacity to serve 400 additional youths. Currently, she said about 350 at-risk 3-and 4-year-olds are given an early childhood education.

The program funds are given to accredited private schools, public schools and community-based early education providers with a Level 3 or Level 4 in Paths to QUALITY™, Indiana’s voluntary child care quality rating and improvement system. The five pilot counties were chosen by the Indiana Family Social Services Administration (FSSA), based on need and the county’s ability and readiness to meet that need.

Gray said the grant will award about $6,800 per student to families, not providers. The program will run for at least five hours a day, for 180 days.

Green said most local child care providers do not have the capacity to expand beyond the number of students they currently serve, so many new students will go to an EVSC school. Green said the EVSC “certainly” has the capacity to serve many additional children. Officials are searching for available space in schools to accommodate the new students. She said it’s not expected the EVSC will serve all additional 200 students in January, but the district does expect to add five to 10 new classrooms by then. The rest will be added by the fall of 2015.

Green said many spaces have already been found, but it may require “rethinking” the space.

“Needless to say, this is a great problem to have, and we are very excited about this opportunity,” she said. “The new venture will be changing as it rolls out, and there are many things we don’t know yet.”

One change officials are aware of is that all sites must be licensed, as well as have intense family engagement components.

“The Legislature understood the research that shows it is not enough to serve young children, but that the quality of the programming plays a large role in the impact the program will have on those children ... Vanderburgh County, and especially the EVSC, has a strong system of support in strengthening families,” Green said.

She also noted there will be a rigorous assessment of the pilot’s effectiveness, Longitudinal Impact Study, conducted by Indiana University and Purdue University.

In other action at Monday night’s meeting, board members approved a recommendation by the district’s Naming Opportunities Advisory Council to name Bosse High School’s multipurpose stadium Owen Stadium, in honor of Arthur “Archie” Owen and Louise Owen.

The two were recognized for their commitment to students and in helping athletics grow at Bosse and Reitz high schools.

In 23 years as Bosse’s head football coach, Archie Owen led the Bulldogs to a record of 111-99-13; an undefeated season in 1967, eight city championships and two SIAC titles.

Louise Owen was a student athlete at Reitz, who later taught there for 31 years. She coached the Panthers to a state basketball championship in 1981; a first for an SIAC school.

The multipurpose turf at Bosse will officially be recelebrated as Enlow Field in honor of Charles “C.B.” Enlow. It was initially named in 1926 after Enlow, who played a significant role in establishing physical education programs for high schools and advocacy for education. He was an Evansville businessman, community leader, and a member of the school board who championed investments in facilities including the construction of Enlow Stadium.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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